Methods for measuring a wavefront of an optical system

ABSTRACT

A method for measuring a wavefront of an optical system. A first step of the method includes directing electromagnetic radiation uniformly at an object plane having a first grating positioned therein. Lines of the first grating comprise a plurality of dots. A second step of the method includes projecting an image of the first grating onto a focal plane having a second grating positioned therein. A third step of the method includes measuring the wavefront of the optical system based on a fringe pattern produced by the second grating.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/750,986, entitled “Transmission Shear Grating In Checkerboard Configuration For EUV Wavefront Sensor,” and filed on Jan. 5, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,268,891, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/440,050, filed Jan. 15, 2003, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is generally related to extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photolithography systems, and more particularly, to measuring wavefront parameters in a photolithographic system.

2. Related Art

Lithography is a process used to create features on the surface of substrates. Such substrates can include those used in the manufacture of flat panel displays, circuit boards, various integrated circuits, and the like. A frequently used substrate for such applications is a semiconductor wafer. One skilled in the relevant art would recognize that the description herein would also apply to other types of substrates.

During lithography, a wafer, which is disposed on a wafer stage (WS), is exposed to an image projected onto the surface of the wafer by an exposure system located within a lithography system. The exposure system includes a reticle (also called a mask) for projecting the image onto the wafer.

The reticle is generally located between a semiconductor chip and a light source, usually mounted on a reticle stage (RS). In photolithography, the reticle is used as a photo mask for printing a circuit on a semiconductor chip, for example. Lithography light shines through the mask and then through a series of optical lenses that shrink the image. This small image is then projected onto the silicon or semiconductor wafer. The process is similar to how a camera bends light to form an image on film. The light plays an integral role in the lithographic process. For example, in the manufacture of microprocessors (also known as computer chips), the key to creating more powerful microprocessors is the size of the light's wavelength. The shorter the wavelength, the more transistors can be etched onto the silicon wafer. A silicon wafer with many transistors results in a more powerful, faster microprocessor.

As chip manufacturers have been able to use shorter wavelengths of light, they have encountered a problem in that the shorter wavelength light is absorbed by the glass lenses that are intended to focus the light. Due to the absorption of the shorter wavelength light, the light fails to reach the silicon wafer. As a result, no circuit pattern is created on the silicon wafer. In an attempt to overcome this problem, chip manufacturers developed a lithography process known as Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUVL). In this process, a glass lens can be replaced by a mirror.

The problem of measuring the quality of the illumination beam is a persistent one for the lithographic applications. In particular, it is desirable to be able to measure wavefront quality in the photolithographic tool during wafer production and exposure, rather than having to disassemble the tool in order to do so. The particular environmental needs of an EUV Tool make disassembly a long and arduous task.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a transmission shear grating and checkerboard configuration for EUV wavefront sensor that substantially obviates one or more of the problems and disadvantages of the related art.

An embodiment of the present invention comprises a wavefront measurement system that includes a source of electromagnetic radiation. An imaging system directs the electromagnetic radiation uniformly at an object plane. A first grating is positioned in the object plane for conditioning the illumination reaching the input NA pupil plane of the projection optics (PO). The first grating includes a plurality of reflecting lines each formed by a plurality of reflecting dots. A projection optical system projects an image of the first grating onto the focal plane. A second grating is positioned at the focal plane. A detector is positioned in the fringe plane and receives the multiple images of the PO pupil through the second grating.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description that follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure and particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a portion of an EUV photolithographic system.

FIG. 2 shows an illustration of how a sensor module and a source module of the present invention fit within the photolithographic system.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a 2-D checkerboard grating.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate the use of an interferometer to produce shear wavefronts.

FIG. 6 is another schematic illustrating the present invention as used within a photolithographic tool.

FIGS. 7-11 illustrate examples of interference fringes seen at the focal plane with the use of the present invention.

FIG. 12 illustrates one embodiment of a source module grating using a random pattern of reflecting dots.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a portion of an EUV photolithographic system 100, which includes an EUV source (not shown in FIG. 1). The system 100 also includes image optics (including mirrors M4 and M3), a pupil 101, a reticle 102 mounted on a reticle stage (RS, not shown) with an image of a pattern to be imaged onto a wafer 105, and projection optics (PO) 104 mirrors M1 and M6. The EUV radiation is then projected onto a wafer 105, which is mounted on a wafer stage (WS, not shown). It will be appreciated that the reticle 102 is reflective in EUV systems, unlike photolithographic systems operating at longer wavelengths, such as deep ultraviolet, or visible, where the reticle 102 is usually transmissive.

As further shown in FIG. 1, in the present invention, a sensor module 106 is placed on the wafer stage, and a source module 103 is placed on the reticle stage, to measure the wavefront. The sensor and source modules 106 may also be referred to as a wavefront sensor (WFS).

FIG. 2 is another illustration of the wavefront measurement apparatus of the present invention, particularly as it can be incorporated into a photolithographic system. As may be seen in FIG. 2, the source module 103 is placed on the reticle stage, and in one embodiment includes two orthogonally oriented gratings. The wavefront sensor (or sensor module 106) is placed on the wafer stage and includes a 2-D grating 201 and a CCD detector 202 that is positioned below the 2-D grating. The projection optics (PO) 104 remain the same as during normal exposure operation.

The wavefront can be measured when imaging is not being performed.

In order to measure the wavefront, the reticle stage is moved, such that one of the gratings 203 in the source module 103 on the reticle stage is placed in the optical path, rather than the reticle 102 itself. The wafer stage is also moved such that the wavefront sensor is positioned to receive an image of the source module grating 203. The CCD detector 202 below the 2-D grating 201 then receives and measures the transmitted radiation. The reticle stage can then be moved to place a different diffraction grating in the optical path, so as to measure the wavefront with an orthogonal orientation of the source module grating 203.

FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of the 2-D grating 201 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, a checkerboard grating can be used, with a carefully chosen pitch of the grating. Such a grating can be manufactured on a substrate of, e.g., 100 nanometers thick, made of a material that is transmissive at the exposure wavelength. For example, for 13.5 nanometers, examples of such transmissive materials include silicon and silicon nitride. The 2-D checkerboard diffraction grating 201 thus can be said to have a 50% duty cycle. The primary interference will be of zeroth order with the + and −1^(st) order. Randomized nature of diffuse scattering from source module 103 is expected to effectively wash out spatial variation in the wavefront across the projection optics 104 pupil. Note that, as may be seen in FIG. 3, the pitch of the 2-D grating 201 is the length of the perpendicular square.

The 2-D grating 201 also includes reflective (or opaque) regions, as may be seen in FIG. 3. These reflective regions can be formed of materials that absorb EUV radiation (this case, for 13.5 nm exposure wavelength), such as nickel, chromium or other metals.

In one embodiment, the checkerboard grating pitch was chosen as 1.6 microns. Note that the pitch has to be carefully chosen, to cause an appropriate angle for first order diffraction (as discussed below) for a particular shear ratio and numerical aperture. In one preferred embodiment the shear ratio was chosen to be 1/30^(th), although it will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that the invention is not limited to these particular numbers or dimensions. Also, in one particular embodiment, the output numerical aperture of the system is 0.25 (and the input numerical aperture is 0.0625, for 4× magnification), although the invention is not limited to this particular numerical aperture.

As noted above, the pitch of the 2-D grating 201 is chosen in one embodiment to provide a shear ratio of 1/30 ^(th), where the CCD detector 202 is in the fringe plane (i.e., below the focal plane of the system), and “sees” a pattern of fringes (an interferogram) or a number of overlapping circles, as will be discussed further below. The shear ratio is a measure of the overlap of two circles, where a shear ratio of zero represents perfect overlap. Note also that it is desirable for the CCD detector 202 to “see” only the zeroth order and the + and −1^(st) order diffraction images, and to eliminate the + and −2^(nd) order on diffraction images. For this purpose, the use of a checkerboard grating with square transmission and reflection areas, as shown in FIG. 3, is believed to be optimal. Furthermore, the first grating 103 is constructed to aid in eliminating unwanted orders. It is important, however, that whichever pattern of transmission and reflection areas is used, that it be a regular pattern that forms a 2-D grating. It will be appreciated however that other shapes, in addition to square shapes, are possible, e.g., circular reflective areas, or circular transmissive areas, etc., as long as the pattern is regular.

One of ordinary skill in the art will also appreciate that some of the tolerancing concerns between the sensor module 106 and the source module 103 can be resolved by first fabricating the 2-D grating 201 of the sensor module 106, measuring its exact dimensions, and then fabricating the source module gratings 203 accordingly. In a 4× magnification system, the pitch of the linear grating of the source module 103 is preferably exactly 4× the pitch of the 2-D grating 201 of the sensor module 106. Thus, for a 1.6 micron pitch of the 2-D grating 201, the pitch of the source module grating 203 is preferably 6.4 microns. However, if the 2-D grating 201 is measured to be deviating by, e.g., 10% from the nominal value of 1.6, the source module grating 203 can be manufactured accordingly to have a pitch 4× times the measured checkerboard grating pitch. This reduces the need for extreme precision in the manufacture of both sets of gratings simultaneously.

Another embodiment of the 2-D grating 201 is a cross grating, such that two linear gratings of an appropriate pitch are essentially placed one on top of another, with each grating having the appropriate pitch dimension to result in an appropriate combined diagonal pitch. It is believed, however, that the checkerboard grating gives best results.

It will also be appreciated that a checkerboard grating or a cross grating can be used in the source module 103 instead of two separate linear gratings, although the use of a 2-D grating in the source module 103 complicates the detector readout and the analysis mathematics.

It will also be appreciated that although the discussion above is primarily in terms of a EUV photolithography system, where reflective optical elements are typically used (such as the source module gratings 203, the projection optics 104, and the imaging optics), the invention is equally applicable to other wavelengths used in the photolithographic system, with appropriate transmissive/refractive components used in place of reflective ones, as appropriate.

The pitch of the source module grating 203 is also chosen to make interference between + and −1^(st) order images disappear.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate the use of a pupil in a lateral shearing interferometer 410 to produce reference wavefronts and shear wavefronts. (See also the entrance pupil 101 in FIG. 1). As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a wavefront 401 converges at a point in space, while emanating from a primary source. An image of a point source 402 exists at an entrance pupil 101. A partially transmitting film 415 may be placed at the entrance pupil 101. A pinhole 403 is positioned at the entrance pupil 101. The pinhole 403 generates a transmitted wave 404 with a wavefront 411, which includes a diffracted spherical reference wave 405. Thus, the lateral shearing interferometer 410 creates one or more apparent sources, whose wavefronts 411 interfere to produce fringes 412.

FIG. 6 is another illustration of the wavefront measurement system of the present invention, showing the source module 103 positioned in the object plane (reticle 102 plane, not labeled in the figures) and the projection optics 104. An image shearing grating 201 is positioned on the wafer stage, and generates multiple wavefronts that are then detected as fringe patterns in the sensor module 202.

FIG. 7 illustrates the wavefront fringes (412 in FIG. 4) as seen by the CCD detector 202. As shown in FIG. 7, in the upper right-hand photograph, sheared fringes for a single object space slit are shown, where the slit is positioned in front of an incoherent, diffuse source that fills the maximum numerical aperture and smoothes any wavefront inhomogeneities. The bottom right-hand figure shows a fringe visibility function 601, with zeroth order and first order diffraction patterns. Wavefront fringes are formed by interference of 0^(th) order with +1^(st) order and with −1^(st) order diffractions at the PO pupil.

The 50% duty cycle on the grating 201 makes all even orders of the diffraction pattern invisible. At the bottom left of FIG. 7, the image space shearing grating 201 is shown, with a shear ratio of 0.5.

FIGS. 8-11 illustrate exemplary wavefronts as seen by the CCD detector 202, for different shear ratios.

With further reference to FIGS. 1 and 10, the wavefront can be further analyzed by taking a number of images N at the CCD detector 202 while scanning the reticle stage by linewidth/N at a time. For a 6.4 micron pitch of the grating 203, and 16 images, the reticle stage is scanned by 6.4 microns/16=400 nm at a time. The images may then be combined via phase shift interferometer principles to produce a better analysis than would be available from a single image.

A particular problem that frequently exists in many EUV photolithographic systems is that the EUV source does not provide uniform illumination at the pupil of the PO, but instead has a number of facets, or hot spots, that result from use of flies' eye lenses in the optics of the EUV source. This results in a non-uniform wavefront at the input numerical aperture of the pupil of the PO 104, or sometimes, in underfilled numerical aperture of the PO. For example, the particular system of one embodiment of the present invention has an input numerical aperture of 0.0625 for the projection optics 104, and an output numerical aperture of 0.25. Thus, it is desirable to be able to eliminate the underfilling and intensity nonuniformity at the input numerical aperture of the PO 104. Note that the problems discussed above affect the measurement of the wavefront by the wavefront sensor discussed above.

FIG. 12 illustrates one proposed solution for overcoming these problems. As shown in FIG. 12, which illustrates one type of a linear grating, each reflecting line of the grating is formed not of a continuous reflecting stripe (or line), but instead of a plurality of reflecting dots. The reflecting dots can be randomly scattered, as shown in FIG. 12, or can be arranged in a regular matrix pattern. Thus, as may be seen from FIG. 12, the lines of the grating 1202 of the source module, when seen “from far away,” appear to be solid lines, as discussed above. However, when viewed “up close” (as illustrated at 1204), they are instead made up of a number of reflecting dots. The remainder of the material, for EUV application, would be absorbing.

The grating lines are chosen as already stated to have a direct relation to the 2^(nd) grating lines so as to further maximize the use of the object plane illumination, preserve fringe visibility at the detector, and eliminate + and −1 order fringes.

In one embodiment, the diameter of the dots, for the parameters discussed above (6.4 μm for 4× magnification, 0.25 output numerical aperture, 0.0625 input numerical aperture, 13.5 nm source) is between 70 and 120 nm, preferably close to 70 nm.

The bottom portion of FIG. 12 shows the overall arrangement of two orthogonally oriented gratings that collectively form the source module grating 203 of the present invention. As may be seen in the bottom portion of FIG. 12, the reflecting dots can be arranged in two adjacent orthogonal patterns, each approximately 200 μm by 200 μm.

It will be appreciated that with the use of the reflecting dots of the present invention, the single diffraction pattern, as shown in FIG. 10, for example, becomes a diffraction pattern within a diffraction pattern. Thus, each reflecting dot becomes a wavefront source, as viewed from the focal plane. Therefore, irregularities in intensity, particularly due to fly's eye facets of the source, will disappear, presenting a clean, regular image of the source at the focal plane. The reflecting dot pattern of the grating 203 also has the advantage that it overfills the 0.0625 numerical aperture of the projection optics, and utilizes as much light that is incident onto the grating 203 as possible. Furthermore, no additional pupil facets or pupil structure are introduced if illumination at the object plane is spatially incoherent. The reflecting dot grating shown in FIG. 12 can be fabricated on a standard reticle blank. The dot diameter is preferably chosen to more than overfill the numerical aperture, so as to provide near-uniform pupil illumination.

Additionally, a factor of 2 drop-off in intensity can be allowable for each dot, since photon noise-limited elemental detection signal-to-noise ratio increases only by the square root of two. Note also that larger diameters can be desirable due to manufacturability issues. Calculations show that a 44 nm diameter dot gives a 10% drop-off, a 66 nm diameter dot gives a 20% drop-off, and a 112 nm diameter dot gives a 50% drop-off, for example.

Thus, the reflecting dot grating 203 of the present invention is an example of a reflective EUV scattering device, that in this case has 0.4% efficiency for the large number of dots and first grating size, with an additional goal of maximizing the efficiency. Efficiency here is defined as the fraction of the illumination power falling within the desired numerical aperture after reflection from the device, as compared to a Lambertian diffuser.

A tailored reflecting EUV diffractor fills the input numerical aperture of the projection optics, to eliminate pupil facets due to the Illumination Subsystem, and to maximize utilization of the illumination for optical system aberration measurements at EUV wavelengths using a lateral grating shearing interferometer. The last requires the equivalent of a grating placed in front of the incoherent extended source in the reticle plane. The first two require that the input illumination be reflected by a diffractor with a more favorable pattern than a Lambertian diffuser. The tailored reflecting diffractor may be an ensemble of micro-reflector diffraction-limited dots in the form of a grating. The individual reflecting dots in that ensemble would be placed at the “slits” of the 50% duty cycle “grating” and each individual reflecting dot of the size and shape to fill by diffraction the input numerical aperture of the optics being measured. For a numerical aperture of 0.0625 at 13.5 nm, the dot diameter might be 70 nm (to 210 nm). A single 70 nm dot would yield about 0.01 “detectable” EUV photon in EUV ILIAS. However, a 50% duty cycle “grating” 300 μm long, with 45 lines of pitch 6.4 μm, and with dots only along the central axis of each line, could accommodate enough spots to yield up to 1,000 “detectable” photons which is more than adequate for EUV ILIAS. “Grating” lines filled with dots would give larger signals. A single (dotted) line would give an inadequate signal. A Lambertian diffuser and regular grating of similar form would give a barely adequate signal.

The reflecting dots could have different heights so as to give them phase differences and so serve to eliminate the center bright spot of the prior random pattern. The random phases due to random heights serve the same purpose. However, the speckle in the presence of partially coherent illumination may be a problem for some applications. The reflective dots can be placed regularly without the phase steps, and such regular placement may trade speckle for less troublesome very low frequency artifacts.

When the reflective dots are placed randomly within the grating lines, speckle appears in the fringe pattern, as well as a bright spot at the center. The bright center can be eliminated by making the reflective dots of random height with a standard deviation of many times the wavelength (i.e., OPD many times π plus a fraction). When dots are placed in regular pattern, the overlapping fringe artifacts in the fringe plane can likewise be eliminated (but causing speckle) by making the dots of random height with an optical path difference standard deviation of many times π. However, the fringe artifacts may have less impact on fringe analysis.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents. 

1. A method for measuring a wavefront of an optical system, comprising: (a) directing electromagnetic radiation uniformly at an object plane having a first grating positioned therein, wherein lines of the first grating comprise a plurality of dots; (b) projecting an image of the first grating onto a focal plane having a second grating positioned therein; and (c) measuring the wavefront of the optical system based on a fringe pattern produced by the second grating.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein (a) comprises: directing electromagnetic radiation uniformly at an object plane having a first grating positioned therein, wherein lines of the first grating comprise a plurality of reflective dots.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein (a) comprises: directing electromagnetic radiation uniformly at an object plane having a first grating positioned therein, wherein lines of the first grating comprise a plurality of dots having different sizes.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein (b) comprises: projecting an image of the first grating on a focal plane having a second grating positioned therein, wherein the second grating is one of a checkerboard grating or a cross-grating.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein (b) comprises: projecting an image of the first grating on a focal plane having a second grating positioned therein, wherein the second grating includes a regular pattern of absorptive regions and transmissive regions.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein (b) comprises: orienting the first grating at a 45 degree angle with respect to the second grating.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein (b) comprises: projecting an image of the first grating on a focal plane having a second grating positioned therein, wherein a pitch of the first grating is equal to a pitch of the second grating times a magnification factor of a projection optical system.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein (b) comprises: projecting an image of the first grating onto a focal plane having a second grating positioned therein, wherein a pitch of the first grating is such that a second order diffraction pattern disappears at the focal plane.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein (b) comprises: filling an input numerical aperture of a projection optical system with the image of the first grating.
 10. A method for measuring a wavefront of an optical system, comprising: (a) directing electromagnetic radiation uniformly at an object plane having a first grating or a second grating positionable therein, wherein lines of the first grating and lines of the second grating comprise a plurality of dots; (b) projecting an image of one of the first grating or the second grating onto a focal plane having a third grating positioned therein; and (c) measuring the wavefront of the optical system based on a fringe pattern produced by the third grating.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein (a) comprises: directing electromagnetic radiation uniformly at an object plane having a first grating or a second grating positionable therein, wherein the second grating is oriented orthogonally to the first grating.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein (a) comprises: directing electromagnetic radiation uniformly at an object plane having a first grating or a second grating positionable therein, wherein at least one of the first grating and the second grating is a reflective grating.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein (a) comprises: directing electromagnetic radiation uniformly at an object plane having a first grating or a second grating positionable therein, wherein the plurality of dots of at least one of the first grating and the second grating comprise dots having different sizes.
 14. The method of claim 10, wherein (b) comprises: projecting an image of one of the first grating or the second grating on a focal plane having a third grating positioned therein, wherein the third grating is one of a checkerboard grating or a cross-grating.
 15. The method of claim 10, wherein (b) comprises: projecting an image of one of the first grating or the second grating on a focal plane having a third grating positioned therein, wherein the third grating includes a regular pattern of absorptive regions and transmissive regions.
 16. The method of claim 10, wherein (b) comprises: orienting one of the first grating or the second grating at a 45 degree angle with respect to the third grating.
 17. The method of claim 10, wherein (b) comprises: projecting an image of one of the first grating or the second grating on a focal plane having a third grating positioned therein, wherein a pitch of at least one of the first grating and the second grating is equal to a pitch of the third grating times a magnification factor of a projection optical system.
 18. The method of claim 10, wherein (b) comprises: projecting an image of one of the first grating or the second grating onto a focal plane having a third grating positioned therein, wherein a pitch of at least one of the first grating and the second grating is such that a second order diffraction pattern disappears at the focal plane.
 19. The method of claim 10, wherein (b) comprises: filling an input numerical aperture of a projection optical system with the image of one of the first grating or the second grating. 